(Image Source: News Nation)
BY JIM FLINK
Two thousand heat records -- broken -- in just one month.
How hot was the month of July? Unprecedented, according to some.
“High temperatures in cities across the US broke or tied more than 2000 records. Imagine that. 18 states from North Dakota to Texas have heat advisories. Texas is experiencing its worst drought ever recorded.”
The Washington Post blames some of it -- on urbanization -- and a higher concentration of green-house gas emissions. Kind of like -- running your car -- on a hot day -- inside a tent.
“....a sprawling area of hot high pressure — sometimes referred to as a heat dome — has stagnated over an expansive area extending from the south central United States into the mid-Atlantic. ... it might be linked to La Nina, a Pacific weather pattern that has waxed and waned over the past year. But long-term temperature trends in our region suggest man-made factors are almost certainly playing a role in the heat’s intensity.”
It’s been intense -- everywhere. From North Dakota to Maine -- Minnesota to Texas.
Hospitals nationwide have been over-whelmed with cases of heat stroke.
WTVJ notes, the death of a Florida high school football player is a reminder to all -- until the heat breaks -- no one, not young nor old -- is safe while the heat dome remains in place.
“He had cramps at first, and so they called for his mom to come get him. And when she got there, the ambulance was already on the way, cause he went into cardiac arrest.”
Relief isn’t coming anytime soon. USA Today -- notes -- meteorologists don’t see the dome lifting now that August has arrived.
“August is unlikely to offer much relief, forecasters say. The heat wave anchored over the Central and Southern Plains states, including drought-stricken Texas, is capped by a colossal vault of high pressure that has locked out cooler air currents from Canada.”
